A Child in the Chaos
by Tomoyo Daidouji2
Summary: 3rd impact never occurred... but the world is on the brink of war using Evas, and a rogue SEELE agent fights to protect a young girl. Hope you like it. (CCS character crossover)o_0
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The man ran down the dimly lit alleyway, holding the soft, pale hand of the young girl that was with him. He heard helicopters in the distance, and knew that SEELE was after them. His long black trenchcoat flapped behind him as he ran, and he thought back to how this had all started.

            Ryo Kaita had been a member of SEELE himself, for years. He graduated from high school in the year 2000, and had started attending college, well, that had been his plan, but there had been the small matter of Second Impact.  After the chaos, during the rebuilding of the world, a mysterious organization, claming to operate outside the government, had made him an offer he couldn't refuse. Now, however, he had washed his hands of it all, given the events of the last few months. Sonumi Daidouji, the president of the Daidouji Toy Company, which was secretly a branch of SEELE, had disappeared, and Ryo had volunteered to act as her daughter's guardian until Sonumi was found. He and the ten-year-old girl, Tomoyo, had quickly formed a close friendship, and he had sworn to himself that he would protect her, no matter the cost. 

            However, during a routine espionage activity, while posing as a police lieutenant on a murder investigation, he discovered Sonomi Daidouji's car ditched in a river. Her body was found in the vehicle, shot to death, with bullets bearing SEELE's insignia. He remembered holding the bullet casing between the thumb and index finger of his right hand. The metal had been cold, as cold as the feeling of horror that formed in his stomach. His hand had shaken, as he stared at it, until he dropped the bullet and began crying, crying for the atrocities his employers had been committing, unbeknownst to him, and crying for letting Tomoyo lose her mother.

            He would never forget having to tell Tomoyo the news. He would never forget holding her as she cried on his shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably. He would never forget looking into her dark blue, tear-filled eyes as she begged him to say it wasn't true. And he would never forget what they had done, would never forgive SEELE.

            There was a shout from around the corner of the alley, back on the main street. He gritted his teeth, and held Tomoyo's hand tighter. 

            "Freeze, Kaita!" shouted one of the SEELE agents, from the end of the alley, behind Ryo. He kept running, but reached inside his coat, fumbling with the release on his shoulder holster. The agents opened fire. Dropping to one knee, and shielding Tomoyo with his body, Ryo winced as he felt the bullets smash into his back. Even through his bulletproof Kevlar trenchcoat, getting shot still stung like hell. There would definitely be bruises in the morning. Ryo whirled, drawing his custom pistol, a Blackhawk 45, and fired four quick shots, dropping the SEELE agents. He looked over at Tomoyo, who crouched next to him.

            "Are you alright?" he asked Tomoyo, concerned. She nodded, her dark violet hair bouncing slightly.

            "I'll be alright, as long as you're here, so I'm not alone." Ryo smiled slightly to himself. She was such a sweet little girl. If only his life had been different… he might have been able to have a daughter like her. He stood up, shaking away his distant dreams, and helped Tomoyo to her feet, and then the two continued down the alley.

              

            A horrendously loud crashing noise off in the distance made the hairs on the back of Ryo's neck stand on edge. A sound like that could herald only one thing: SEELE had sent one of the Mass Produced Evangelion units after him. What the hell was Chairman Keel thinking? Was he willing to level an entire city just to get one rogue agent?  

Wiping the cold sweat off his brow, Ryo headed into the ground floor of a nearby skyscraper, Tomoyo following closely behind. It was nearing the end of the business day, and between that and the SEELE attack, the massive building was pretty much deserted. They called an elevator and headed up to the roof. 

Looking out, Ryo saw that, yes, they had sent an Eva. Unit 10, specifically. It was stalking up and down the streets, concealed at times by buildings taller than it. Its pinkish-red lips were twisted in the perpetual macabre smile/sneer of the Artificial Evangelion series. Its polished white armor gleamed in the afternoon sun, and it carried its Lance of Longinus Replica over one shoulder. This would normally have been a very large problem for Ryo, but today, he had backup, whether or not the backup knew it yet. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a videophone. A few seconds of searching picked up on a nearby frequency that was encoded with the telltale German encryption algorithm and after one dial, a woman's face appeared on the display. 

She had bright red-orange hair, and a beautiful face, a beauty that was only slightly marred by the patch she wore over her left eye, but her other eye was a bright shade of blue. There were two red neural links in her hair, and she was wearing a skintight red outfit.

            "This the private communications channel of the German-Souryu Expeditionary Force! Who the hell are you and how did you tap into this line?" she snarled, in an obviously German accent.

            "Ah, Commander Souryu, good afternoon."

            "Oh, Ryo? Hallo! It's been ages! What's going on?"

               "Actually, I could use a bit of help, since you're in the area."

            "What? Where are you? How do you know where I am?"

            "I saw your fleet off the coast of California when I was flying in. It looks like you're already in your Eva. That's convenient."

            "Convenient? Meaning what?"

            "Well, you knew that I went rogue from SEELE, right?"

            "Yeah, best decision you ever made. So what?"

            "Well, it seems that they're a bit eager to find me."

            "Dummkopf! Get to the point! What's that got to do with me?"

"I need a distraction to get out of town."

"Why? You've obviously been able to evade them for this long."   

"Well, besides the scads of SEELE agents, Unit 10 is stalking around the city looking for me."

            "Gott in Himmel! Unit 10?!"

            "Yup. And if it notices your fleet anchored here in San Francisco, SEELE will know exactly where you and your Eva are. So, how about a bit of help, if you could?"

            "Alright, alright, I'll intercept."

            "Thanks. I owe you one. I'm going to vacate the premises while you fight, so take care of yourself."

            "You're just going to leave me here with it?"

"Hey, it shouldn't be a problem for you, right? I mean, you took out the entire series by yourself once." Asuka rubbed the patch over her eye.

            "Don't remind me."

Unit 02 arrived like a crimson hurricane, rushing into the city with preternatural speed. She had five minutes. Plenty of time. Progressive Knife drawn and ready, Asuka leapt towards the white titan that was Unit 10. She slashed with her knife directly towards its head. The beast parried quickly, and the unit's lance crashed into her blade, sending a shower of sparks down to the streets below. It was then that she noticed the numerous scars on the armor of the artificial Eva, scars she herself had inflicted. Memories of the battle at the Geofront, five years ago, crept into her thoughts. 

True, Dr. Akagi had activated NERV headquarters' self-destruct protocol and saved the entire human race from Third Impact, but nearly all the NERV personnel had died along with Adam and Lillith in the fiery conflagration. And she had lost her goddamned eye fighting the Eva series, only to be saved seconds later by that idiot Ikari! He must have finally gotten his act together enough to get in Unit 01 before the base went up. Supposedly he had taken over NERV, she had heard, in which case, she was sure the organization was doomed. Agents of the German government had arrived quickly during the chaos that surrounded the 'salvage' of what had been the Geofront, and spirited both her and her Eva back to the homeland. In the years since then, she had risen rapidly through the ranks of the German military… 

            Fighting off the distraction of memories, she snapped back to reality. Unit 10 had deflected her initial attack, and the Progressive Knife had snapped as if it were nothing more than a simple box-cutter. She had to pay more attention! Asuka yanked on the controls of her Eva, leaping backwards just in time to dodge the enemy's riposte. Damn, she though. It was about to throw its Lance, in which case she could kiss both her A.T. Field and her ass goodbye. Fortunately, she had learned from her past mistakes. Unit 10 reared back, and hurled the replica lance towards Asuka, which morphed to its true form as it flew towards her.

            "NOW!" screamed Asuka into her comm. link. From where they had been hiding behind a skyscraper, two German VTOL Jets from her fleet rose up and streaked towards the lance. The jets crashed into it, blossoming into flames. A suicide mission, but the pilots had been ready to die for their commander. They did not die in vain, however, as their terminal momentum made the Lance of Longinus veer off course and land harmlessly at Asuka's feet. 

Smiling evilly, she reached down and scooped it up. Unit 10 saw this, and both it and her seemed to know what she was planning. Quickly, it engaged its wings and began running desperately away from Unit 02. It leapt into the air, trying to escape…

            And was skewered directly through its S2 engine by the Lance. Asuka casually strolled over to it, reached down, and ripped out the dummy plug. She crushed the red cylinder in her hand, and then activated her communicator again.

            "This is Commander Souryu. I want a recovery team out here, now. I just speared us a new toy to play with."

            Just under a minute and a half. She still had it. Asuka smiled to herself, just a bit.    

From the outskirts of the city, Ryo and Tomoyo watched the aftermath of the battle. During the initial bedlam during and directly after the skirmish, he had "borrowed" a Jeep from a local dealership. Now, the afternoon was creeping into evening, the sun already beginning to set. It had taken the Germans about two hours to load Unit 10 onto their carrier, and now they were leaving rapidly, due to the fact that the United States military had just showed up en masse.

            "Interesting," commented Ryo to himself. "It would appear that Ms. Souryu just added an Eva to her collection. This certainly changes the balance of power for Germany." He turned to Tomoyo, and knelt down to look her in the eyes. "Are you alright, Tomoyo?" he asked. She hugged him, and smiled. 

            "Thank you," she replied, simply.

            "What for?" he asked, confused. Tomoyo blushed, just a bit.

            "For caring about me so much. For protecting me. For being here for me. I don't know. For everything, I guess." He stood, and patted her on the shoulder. 

            "No, thank you, Tomoyo, for giving me something to protect, something to fight for." He looked out, over the city to the port, and saw the German ships rapidly departing, even as the US forces began to bombard them. "And thank you, Asuka, for saving my ass," he muttered to himself. He held Tomoyo's hand, and they walked towards the car together, under the light of the setting sun.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

            It was a bright, sunny day in Dallas, as thousands packed into the city's most famous stadium for the Super Bowl. The year was 2020… and the football game was a much-needed break from reality for the United States. It had only been five years since the tense situation in Japan, and since then, there had been multitudes of terrorist actions perpetrated by the shady groups known as SEELE and NERV. Also, there was great unrest in Europe, with Germany flexing its newfound military muscle, under its mysterious young new supreme commander, Asuka Langley Souryu. To add to the tension, a little over a month ago, the Germans' Evangelion Unit 02 had been seen in California. The United States government had attempted to cover up the incident, but the media was vigilant as ever, and most of the US population was now convinced that another World War was just over the horizon. 

            And so, against this backdrop, in the mass of spectators flooding in through the stadium gates, two people walked through the crowd, a man and a girl. The man was tall, nearly six-two or so. He wore a cowboy hat, a black leather duster, cowboy boots, and a huge belt buckle that rivaled most professional wrestling championship belts. Obviously a good ol' Texas cowboy, despite his Asian appearance. He held the hand of a little girl who was no more than ten or eleven, also of Asian descent. She wore denim overalls and carried a big plush teddy bear, and her dark hair was tied back in pigtails. They approached the obligatory security checkpoint. The security officers were doing pat downs, as well as using hand-held metal detectors. 

            The two waited in line patiently until their turn arrived. The guard looked them over.

            "I've had to raise her since her momma passed away a few years ago," explained the man, in a thick Texan drawl. 

            "I see. I'm sorry to hear that," said the guard, his face softening. "Just going to need to check your coat, sir." 

            "No problem, pardner'," smiled the tall man, as he took it off and handed it to the guard. The guard looked through the pockets, and found a can of chewing tobacco, some keys, and the man's ticket stubs. Handing the coat back, the guard glanced momentarily at the little girl's smiling face and teddy bear, and then motioned for them to go through the checkpoint.

            "You two have a great day," the guard said as they passed by.

As soon as they could, the two crept into a part of the stadium with few people around. Nonchalantly, the man opened a door to a storage room, and he and the girl slipped in. 

            "That went well," commented Ryo, as he took off the huge belt buckle and started assembling the small pistol it had concealed. After putting it together, he screwed on a suppresser. "Now, assuming that both Ikari and SEELE make their respective appearances today, this trip might actually be worth it." 

            "What do you want me to do with this, Papa?" asked Tomoyo, holding up the bear. Ryo smiled.

            "You don't have to call me that, now that we're in, unless you just want to."

            "I do," she said earnestly.

            "Well, to be honest, I always wanted a daughter, so I guess 'Papa' is fine. Oh yeah, the bear. Just hold onto it for now. The GPS beacon is in it, we'll need it to call our ride out of here if everything goes down the way it's supposed to, plus it'll make the disguise that much more plausible." He took off his cowboy hat and set it gently on Tomoyo's head. "You look really cute, Tomo, just like a little cowgirl. All right, we're ready to go. Just remember, stick close to me as usual, and if any shooting starts, stay behind me." 

            Nonchalantly exiting the storage room, they strolled back towards a crowded concession booth. One of the popcorn venders caught his eye. A young Japanese man, he had just picked up his vending tray and hung it around his neck. Ryo smiled to himself, and walked towards the vender. 

            "Excuse me," he said, as he came up behind the man. "But can you tell me what sport the _Angels_ play? I had mistakenly thought they were a football team, but I guess I was wrong." 

The man turned, a disgusted smile on his face.

            "With all due respect, sir, that's a terrible joke. Mr. Kaita, I presume?"

A few minutes later they were back in the storage room. Ryo looked the young man up and down, and then nodded, obviously satisfied of something.

"You look just like your old man, even without the beard."

"I'd rather not talk about him."

"Really. And yet, you took over Gendo's position. I thought you would have wanted to start a new life after everything you went through."

Shinji sighed.

"It's not that simple. Even if I had tried, do you think for a second that SEELE would have let me?"

"You've got a point there, Ikari. I tried to walk away, and ended up running. For my life."

"I stopped running away five years ago, at the Geofront," replied Shinji. "I'm not going to beat around the bush, Mr. Kaita. I know you have no love for SEELE. We're horribly short on personnel right now, to the point that I'll take anyone with training in a heartbeat. Plus, you're fairly familiar with the enemy's interior workings. What do you say?"

"Trying to sign a free agent, huh? Tell me something, Ikari, since the Angels are all gone, is NERV basically just a rogue government agency that refuses to call it quits?"

"More like anti-terrorist vigilantes, actually. All of us that are left lost nearly everything because of SEELE. Call it jealous revenge if you want, but we owe them. But, you know all about that, I'm sure. What about you, Mr. Kaita? Why do you hate them so much?" 

Ryo glanced at his watch.

"We don't have much longer. Halftime starts soon."

"Please, answer my question."

"Fine. This girl, Commander Ikari." He held Tomoyo's hand, and glanced at her for a second.  "SEELE killed her mother. I was working for them, an organization that takes little girls' mothers away. They probably would have killed Tomoyo, too, given the chance. I can't forgive myself for having anything to do with them. To atone for my sins, and to avenge her, I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that Chairman Keel burns in hell. If that means temporarily aligning myself with NERV, then so be it. Tomoyo means everything to me, Ikari. So, I guess our mutual desire for revenge brings us together."

 "'The enemy of my enemy is my friend', eh Mr. Kaita?" smiled Shinji. 

"I might as well throw my two cents into your corner." 

"Thank you."

"One more thing, though," added Ryo. "What is your political position when it comes to the Germans?" 

This question was answered by Shinji lowering his head.

"We… are neutral," he muttered.

"I see. So… you're not planning to reform the old Axis powers? Japanese and Germans together again, you and Asuka, could be quite a team-"

"That's enough! Please don't mention her again!" interrupted Shinji harshly.

"Fine, fine. I'm just trying to get a grasp on the situation, Ikari. About the Evas: I know that Asuk- I mean, that _Germany_ has Eva Units 02 and 10. The US government has the rebuilt 03, 05, 06, and 07. SEELE had 10 through 12, until they lost 10 in the little fiasco last month. The Japanese government ended up with 09. And I know you have Unit 01. That leaves 08 and 13 MIA. Granted, I know that there was a lot of chaos right after the Geofront battle, but I find it hard to believe that two Evangelion units could just disappear."

"We have 01,and 08, and the remains of Unit 00." 

"I see. So, only 13 is unaccounted for. Interesting." Ryo suddenly looked at his watch. "Damn, it's almost halftime! I've got to get moving!"

"Huh? What's going on?"

            "And you call yourself an anti-terrorist group?" scoffed Ryo. "The president's making a speech at halftime!"

            "So?"

            "So, I have it on good authority that SEELE's planning to assassinate him. Tomoyo, thank you for waiting patiently through that boring grown-up conversation." 

She smiled at him.

"No, it wasn't boring at all, Papa."

"Wait here, and lock the door. Pile stuff against it if you have to. I'll be back as soon as I can." He knelt before her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Hold on to that bear. If something happens and I don't make it back, press its nose, and my backup will be here for you. " 

She looked up at him, sadly. 

"Please be careful. Promise me you will."

 He kissed her gently on the forehead.

"I give you my word, Miss Daidouji." Ryo gave her one last hug, and then exited the closet, Shinji right behind him. Ryo tucked the pistol into his shoulder holster, and then they hurried off, down the long tunnel of the stadium's understructure.

The FFA had highly advanced radar systems monitoring the airspace of all major US cities, with connections to nearby military airfields in cases of emergency. Unfortunately, their radar wasn't good enough to spot the solitary stealth jet with a seven-eyed crest on its wing that tore through the skies above Dallas. Inside the cockpit, the pilots checked and rechecked launch preparations, until the signal from their superior came in over the satellite link. Acknowledging, they flicked a series of switches on the console.

            Outside the plane, a huge threaded cylinder hummed with the activation, and rotated smoothly into the white mass protruding from the jet's underside. The final safety locks disengaged, and Evangelion Unit 11 slumped out of the storage bay and began to freefall momentarily, until its wings snapped into position and it began gliding down, to the city below. 

"Now, if I remember my SEELE assassination training correctly," remarked Ryo as he and Shinji sprinted along the maintenance hallway behind the stadium's spectator area, "They'll have agents as close as possible to the target, probably right down on the field, so what we need to do is-" 

He was cut off abruptly as the sound of thousands of people screaming in unison cut through the air and reached his ears. Seconds later, there was an earthshaking roar, that rattled the stadium's foundations.  The two of them rushed over and opened an access door. They looked out, and there, in the middle of the field, Astroturf shredded beneath its massive feet, crouched Unit 11, still braced from its landing. There was a terrible gust of wind as its wings retracted, and then it slowly stood up. Ryo and Shinji simply stared, in disbelief, at the scene that was unfolding before them. 

"Unbelievable! Do they not even care about civilians at all?" gasped Shinji. 

"What the hell are they doing?" screamed Ryo in outrage. "This is ridiculous! I can't believe this!" Ryo sighed, and shook his head in disgust. "Bastards."

"I can have Unit 08 here in about an hour-" started Shinji, but Ryo cut him off. 

"Don't bother. I was going to play Good Samaritan and save the president, but I know the US government has Unit 05 stationed nearby. It's **their** problem now, I don't take on Evangelions. That's way out of my league. I'm getting out of here, I suggest you do the same." He turned to leave.

"Wait! Where are you going?" demanded Shinji. "You and Tomoyo can evacuate with us!"

"I have some business to take care of before I join you. I'll meet you on Okinawa soon."

Shinji stared at him.

"How the hell did you know where our new headquarters is?" 

Ryo looked over his shoulder at the commander of NERV, and smiled smugly.

"I have my sources. Let's just say you might want to talk to your head of security when you get back. Toji obviously hasn't been doing his job well enough. Sayonara, Ikari-kun."

Ryo tore around the corner at a run, as he heard the horrific crash of the Eva destroying a nearby section of the stadium. He started banging loudly on the supply closet door. 

"Change of plans, Tomo! We're getting out of here! Let's go!" She opened the door, and stepped out, smiling.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too, Tomo. Hand me the bear, and I'll call our ride." She passed it to him, and he attempted to activate the beacon, but nothing happened. "Damn it! There's some sort of jamming going on!" He handed the bear back to her. 

"What are we going to now?" she asked him, in a frightened voice. 

"Now… we run like hell!" As if to punctuate his statement, a nearby girder buckled and groaned in protest.

The military had their hands full, trying to evacuate civilians and contain the Eva, so Ryo and Tomoyo managed to slip out in the confusion completely unnoticed and get back to their car. As they fought their way through the bedlam of the panicked traffic, Ryo glanced upward to the sky, and caught a momentary glimpse of a black military helicopter with a red leaf logo highlighted against the Dallas skyline.

"See you on Okinawa, Ikari." 


	3. Chapter 3: Memories of the Past, Plans f...

Chapter 3: Memories of the Past, Plans for the Future

Chairman Keel's eyes moved over the display screen in front of him, then darted upwards to the nervous-looking agent standing in front of his desk.

            "Tell me if I understand this correctly," Keel said, in his cruel, gravely voice. "Both Kaita and Ikari's brat were together in Dallas, and you simply let them walk out of there?"

            The agent visibly gulped. 

            "Sir! M-my men were not informed that Unit 11 was going to be used in the operation! There was a great deal of confusion! It wasn't our fault!"

            "You were not informed about Unit 11 because you did not need to know. Pawns aren't supposed to question their king's orders. You had a chance to eliminate two of the biggest thorns in our side, and you failed. You also had a chance to recover Daidouji's daughter, and you failed at that, too."

            "It wasn't our fault!" protested the man again. Keel sneered. As the agent stared into the Chairman's cybernetic visor, the actual consequences of his situation began to sink in. "Oh god, I'm sorry, sir! Please give me another chance!" he cried, his voice cracking. "Please sir, I have a family!"

            "Yes. And they will die for your failure, just as you will. In fact, I think I'll let you watch their deaths, just before your own execution." The agent turned to run, but Keel motioned slightly with his hand, and two guards who had been hiding in the darkness of Keel's office intercepted the agent's path, and brought him down with sharp blows to the head with their heavy nightsticks.

            "Get that garbage out of my sight," ordered Keel. As the guards dragged the unconscious agent out of the office, he looked back to his computer screen and sighed. Kaita and Ikari. Both of them had slipped away again. This was not good. The Dead Sea Scrolls were worthless now. Adam and Lilith were gone forever. He would have to make his own scenario from now on. He picked up the phone on his desk and dialed the Head of SEELE's branch in the United States.

            "Yo, Shinji! Welcome back!" shouted Kenske, over the roar of the nearby jet's engines. Shinji smiled and waved at him as he stepped down off the jet's boarding steps onto the runway. NERV was now using an abandoned, rundown airstrip on Okinawa for most of their air traffic. It had definitely seen better days, as the concrete was cracked and weathered, with grass growing up through it in places. 

            Shinji walked over and shook his friend's hand.      

            "Everything okay while I was gone?"

            "Oh yeah. Toji wanted to come too, but I told him to stay at HQ just in case something happened while I was away to pick you up. Can't really have much in the way of security if the **head** of security leaves, can we?"

            Shinji nodded in agreement as the two of them headed towards Kenske's nearby car, a simple black sedan. 

            "So," said Kenske, once they were on the road. "Did you meet with him?"

            "Yes."

            "Well, what did he say?" 

            "He accepted, but on his own terms. He's definitely a lone wolf. But he told me he'd be along soon."

            "I guess that's good news," said Kenske, in a relieved voice.

            "He also knew where we're located now."

            "What?"

            Shinji nodded grimly.

            "I need to talk to Toji about that. If he knew about it, then SEELE easily could, too. I'm afraid there might be a leak."

            It was early evening by they time they got back to NERV's base of operations out in the middle of nowhere. The facilities had existed before the battle at the Geofront, but had been pretty much forgotten about since then. Shinji and his team had been lucky to stumble across it. Although nowhere near the level of the Tokyo-3 facilities, there were still adequate facilities for Eva storage and maintenance. 

            Shinji was tired from the jetlag of the flight, so he politely excused himself upon arrival and went to his room for the night. Lying down on his bed, he took off the silver cross necklace he had worn for the last five years and looked at it.

            "I wish you were here, Misato," he said quietly. "Sometimes I just don't know what we're doing anymore." He put the necklace on his nightstand, and tried to sleep, but memories of the past haunted him…

Shinji gasped in surprise as Misato shoved him into the emergency elevator, and got one last glance of her smiling face before the door slid shut. The engines kicked on, and he felt the elevator begin moving upwards. Looking down, he saw that she had pressed her necklace into his hand. It was stained with her blood. There was a slight jolt from below, and Shinji realized that the sector of headquarters had just blown up. 

            "Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks," Misato had said, just after she had been shot, but Shinji knew she had been lying. She was gone. One of the only people who had ever cared about him and given him a place to belong, and now she was gone. Those people called SEELE had stolen her away forever. But, there was one thing he could still do for her. Misato had wanted him to help Asuka. He might never be able to look Asuka in the face again after what he had done in the hospital room, but for Misato, he had to fight. Gritting his teeth, he slipped the necklace on over his head.

It didn't look good, he saw. Unit 02 was down, impaled through its head by what appeared to be the Lance of Longinus. Saying a silent prayer to a god Shinji wasn't even sure existed; he gripped the controls of Unit 01 and hoped against hope that he wasn't too late. 

            "Asuka! Asuka! Are you all right?" yelled Shinji into his communication link. He was answered by a chilling scream, and a long stream of German curses. Still, he was relieved she was still alive. Then, he noticed the nine white figures that were hunched around Unit 02. They looked… somewhat like Evas, but these things were straight out of a nightmare. However, they were all battered and mutilated. Obviously Asuka hadn't gone down without a fight. And now, Shinji had their full attention.

            He drew his progressive knife, and braced himself for combat, but suddenly, the pyramid-shaped building that was NERV headquarters blossomed outward in a huge fiery explosion. 

            "What the hell?" yelled Shinji, "That came from… inside? A self-destruct?" He didn't time to think about it, though, as the white Mass Produced Evas began advancing on him. However, a nagging thought at the back of his mind surfaced. If the central base were gone, then he would only have five minutes… 

            "NO!" he screamed. "For Misato, I will win! I'll save you, Asuka!" Hot tears of rage and frustration began running down his cheeks. "Mother! Please, help me, Mother! I need you now more than ever!" For a brief moment, there was silence, and then Yui Ikari gave her son an answer. Unit 01's eyes began to glow, and its mouth opened as it let out a mighty roar, the S2 engine fully exposed and thrumming with power as wings of light leapt out from its back. The Mass Produced Evas hesitated at the fearsome sight, and then Unit 01 fell upon them. 

His thoughts returned to the present. "You would have been proud of me, Misato," whispered Shinji, as he lay in bed. "No matter what, I'll avenge you." Sighing, he realized he probably wouldn't be able to get to sleep. He reached over for his trusty tape player.

            Tomoyo looked out the window to the left of her seat. They were far above the clouds by now, and even if they hadn't been, it was too dark to see anything. She turned her head back to the right, and saw Ryo was sleeping in the seat next to her. They were on a commercial flight to Japan, an idea that Ryo had come up with. He had decided that SEELE probably wouldn't be expecting them to use such obvious transportation. She sat back in her reclined seat.

Tomoyo remembered the day Ryo had told her everything. She would never be able to forget it. He had come into her room with a sad look on his face. At first, it hadn't seemed real. Her mother couldn't be dead. Impossible. It had to be a dream. However, eventually it had sunken in. Dead. Her mother was dead.

Then, she had been angry. Furious. Ryo said that he had been working for the people who killed her mother. It had to be his fault. He should have stopped them. He was evil! 

But if he was so evil, said the rational part of her mind, then why was he crying too? If he was so evil, why was he hugging her? Why was he whispering that he was sorry over and over again? 

Tomoyo just wasn't the kind of girl who could hate anyone. Her anger had faded, replaced only with a dull sadness. Yes, sadness, but also relief that someone was there for her.

            They had had to leave right away, and she hadn't even gotten to say goodbye to her best friend, Sakura Kinomoto, but it was for the best, she knew. SEELE had burned her home down the next day and planted the remains of bodies in the ashes; to make it all look like an accident. They had taken her very identity away. She didn't understand it all, and she didn't know why SEELE was trying to get her, but she did know that Ryo was there for her, no matter what happened. He had said that he always wanted a daughter. Those words echoed in Tomoyo's mind. Yes, she knew he would always be there for her. She leaned against Ryo and rested her head gently on his shoulder. 

            "I'll be alright. 'Papa' is with me," she told herself, as she drifted off to sleep.

Elsewhere, half a world away, Supreme Commander Asuka Langley Souryu was meeting with the Prime Minister of Germany. Well, being chewed out was more like it.

"What the hell did you think you were doing?" barked the aging statesman. "You destroyed over half a major American city! Is this all just a game to you, little girl?"

"Don't you even care that I captured another Eva for us?" she asked, in an annoyed voice. "So I trashed some American property. Big deal. Can't you appreciate what I did? You should commend your talented Supreme Commander for such a lucrative victory." 

The Prime Minister glared at the smug girl sitting in his office.

"I don't know what the hell I was thinking giving a brat like you so much power. I must have been blinded by your accomplishments with your Eva. But I'm going to rectify this situation immediately, before it causes us to lose anymore face in the international community."

Asuka frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm relieving you of all your rank and placing you under arrest. Guards!" Two military police brandishing submachine guns burst into the room. Asuka shook her head and laughed. "What's so funny?" demanded the Prime Minister. 

"I knew this was inevitable, I just wasn't planning having to go though with it so soon."

"What are you talking about?"

"A coup, my dear Minister." She snapped her fingers, and the military police leveled their guns directly at the Prime Minister. 

"You'll never get away with this!" he shouted, desperately. "There are guards all throughout the capital building. You won't make it out alive!" 

Asuka grinned.

"You underestimate this country's loyalty to you."

"What?"

"Unlike you, I don't want to be the United States' obedient lapdog. I think most of the people feel that way too. And they know that under my leadership, this country can be great once again. Sorry, Prime Minister, nothing personal."

The guards' guns spoke, tearing the Prime Minister to ribbons. 

Asuka stood up.

"Have some one take care of this mess. I want my new office to be nice and tidy."


End file.
